


neither faith nor hope

by Anonymous



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 07:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14971718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: They're not safe alone in the woods. No one is.





	neither faith nor hope

“Are you here because of what I’ve done.” His voice is too flat to make it a question. The wind from the north is harsh with the scent of the toxic smoke that has always been the backdrop to their conversations.

“I’m here because I missed you.”

Maedhros shivers convulsively. He takes several steps away. Northward. He stops. “Did you find them?”

“Why were you looking for them?”

“They’re not safe in the woods here.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

Maedhros turns to face him, silent.

Mairon smiles politely. It’s as if he’s waiting to hear how a play went.

“Gorthaur,” says Maedhros, “why are you here?”

“Is that what you call me now? Is it really?” Mairon smiles. “I’m here because you’re alone. I’m here because no one will come if you call.”

“Are you here to take me back.”

“Do you want me to?”

“I want to win the war.”

“Do you really?”

“Your master needs to be destroyed.”

Mairon makes a frustrated sound. “Why are you looking for them?”

“Maybe you’d leave a pair of children to… die out here.”

“I might not!”

Maedhros nods. “And that’s why I’m looking.”

“To kill them?”

“Why would I tell you what I’ll do if I find them?”

“Why didn’t you kill them before?”

Maedhros leans against a nearby tree trunk. Exhaustion from the fight and the search finally make his legs feel too weak to stand otherwise. He breathes. He looks up at the branches that hide the sky. “I didn’t have the chance.”

“Did you get what you wanted from Menegroth?”

“I wouldn’t tell you if I had.”

“But you didn’t.”

“I wouldn’t tell you if I had.”

“Knowing what a difference you’ve gone on to make, do you wish he’d killed you?”

Maedhros closes his eyes. He breathes. He lives.

“What does it feel like to know everything you want is farther out of reach because you exist?”

It doesn’t feel like anything. No, that’s not it. It feels like nothing. It feels empty.

It’s been hours. He’s not going to find them.

He can’t find it in himself to answer Gorthaur. He can’t find the strength to keep looking. He can’t rest.

So he walks back to Menegroth.


End file.
